White Wine Chicken Bake

Ingredients:

6 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)

1 can cream of chicken soup

6 slices of Swiss cheese

1 cup seasoned bread crumbs

½ cup white wine

1 stick butter

4 green onions, chopped

Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Place chicken breasts in baking dish and put Swiss cheese slices on top.

Melt the butter and pour ½ over chicken.

Sprinkle salt & pepper over chicken.

Add wine to soup and mix well. Pour over top.

Add 1 cup of bread crumbs to the other half of butter, mix well, and spread on top of chicken.

Bake at 350 for ~40 minutes. 

Best Buttermilk Pancakes

Original Recipe at: http://www.buzzfeed.com/emofly/best-buttermilk-pancake-recipe?sub=2029032_891199

Picture is from above link.

Recipe from Martha Stewart Living, January 2001
(http://www.marthastewart.com/318689/best-buttermilk-pancakes)

MAKES 9 SIX-INCH PANCAKES

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 1/2 teaspoon for griddle

PREPARATION:

Heat griddle, not too high. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl and whisk or stir with a fork. In a separate bowl, whisk together the beaten eggs, buttermilk, and 4 tablespoons of the melted butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and very gently fold them together. Do not overmix; the batter should have small to medium lumps.

Heat oven to 200 degrees. Test griddle by sprinkling a few drops of water on it. If water bounces and spatters off griddle, it is hot enough. Using a pastry brush, brush remaining 1/2 teaspoon of butter onto griddle. Wipe off excess.

For each pancake, pour about 1/2 cup of batter. When pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around edges, about 2 1/2 minutes, flip them over. Cook until golden on bottom, about 1 minute.

Keep the finished pancakes on a heatproof plate in oven.

Hot Mama Notes: These pancakes are very good.  One of the best "from scratch" buttermilk pancake recipes I have ever tried, in fact.  That is saying something!  They have just the right amount of sweetness and creaminess.  I did add chocolate chips to all but one pancake (so I could tell house just the pancake alone tasted!!).  Sadly, I am not sure that I like them better than good ol' Bisquick.  :(  These pancakes do have good loft, too, which is good.  I like light and fluffy pancakes.  We will definitely make them again!  Grade: A

Spinach Asparagus Quiche

Original Recipe: http://rotnerramblings.blogspot.com/2013_03_01_archive.html

• 1/2 Tbls. olive oil
• 8 asparagus spears, ends removed and cut into 1 inch pieces (I used skinny aspargus, approx. 1 cup, diced)
• 4 cups fresh baby spinach, I cut it up into small pieces
• 5 large eggs
• 1 c. milk
• 3/4 c. crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 green onions, chopped - I omitted
• 1- 9 inch unbaked pie crust

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Line a 9 inch pie plate with dough and stick in freezer while you prepare the other quiche ingredients.

3. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the asparagus and spinach. Cook until asparagus is tender and spinach is wilted. 

4. In a large bowl, whisk eggs and milk together. Stir in both cheeses. Add salt and pepper, to taste. 

5. Remove pie crust from the freezer. Place asparagus, spinach and onions on the bottom of the crust. Pour egg and cheese mixture over the vegetables. The chunks of cheese will be at the bottom of the bowl, don't forget those morsels...

6. Bake for 45 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.


Hot Mama Notes: I used the homemade savory crust listed in the post a few before this.  I did not put in the freezer (no room), but I did leave it in the fridge while I got the filling ready.  I also needed to cook my quiche an additional 20 minutes over the listed 45 minutes.  It simply was not cooked when I checked at 45 minutes.  It is cooling now.  I haven't had a chance to taste it yet, but it looks delicious!!!

Broccoli Quiche

Original Recipe is at: http://rotnerramblings.blogspot.com/2013_03_01_archive.html

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbls. butter
• 1 onion, minced
• 1 tsp. garlic, minced
• 2 cups chopped fresh broccoli
• 1- 9 inch unbaked pie crust
• 1 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Over medium heat, melt butter in a large saucepan. Add onions, garlic and broccoli. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft. 

3.  Spoon vegetables into crust and sprinkle with cheese.

4. Combine eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over vegetables and cheese.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until center has set. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Hot Mama Notes: This quiche was delicious.  :)  I used a little over 2 cups of broccoli.  Closer to 2.5 cups.  However, I didn't feel like I had a problem with the filling overspilling the pie crust, thankfully!  I used about 3 cloves of garlic.  I think next time I would mix all the filling items together before putting them into the pie crust, so that the resulting filling mixture is more homogenous.  I followed the directions exactly, and while the broccoli and the milk/egg mixture was fine, I did not like how all the cheese was sort of glommed on top.  Also, I am not sure if this is why the quiche was a bit watery, but I might try draining the broccoli mixture before adding it to the pie crust (or mixing it with the remaining filling items).  

We will definitely make this again some time!  Grade: A-

Unbaked Single Pie Crust (Savory)

Originally from the Moosewood Restaurant New Classics Cookbook,
Ronald’s Fennel Quiche Recipe, just the Crust

Ingredients:

1 c unbleached white flour
1/2 t salt (optional)*
1/3 c chilled butter
2 T ice water

Directions:

Mix together the flour and the salt, if using, in a large bowl. Rapidly work the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter or your fingers until it resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle the ice water over the mixture a tablespoon at a time, and lightly mix it through the dough.

Push the dampened dough from the sides to the middle of the bowl, to form a ball that holds together. Transfer it to a clean, dry work surface. Cut the dough in half, place one half on top of the other, and press down. Repeat the cutting and pressing steps three or four times until all of the water is well distributed and the dough clings together. 

Lightly flour a work surface and roll the dough into a 12-inch circle. Transfer the pie dough to a 9-inch pie plate, fold the edges under, and crimp with your fingers or a fork. Refrigerate the pie shell while you prepare the filling.

Hot Mama Notes: This is the unbaked single crust recipe that I used along with the Broccoli Quiche recipe.  I have used this crust recipe many, many times, and it never disappoints!!!  It is so buttery & delicious! :)  Easy to make, too!

Grade: A